Especially being able to bear healthy offspring with humans was most difficult to achieve. Many Great Demons, though capable of maintaining human form and reproducing with humans, bore children who could not control the Demon Qi in their bodies due to their young age. Nine out of ten children would reveal their aberrant form at birth. For instance, if their father or mother was a Tiger Spirit, the offspring would certainly be born with a body full of beastly fur, or perhaps tiger ears, tiger eyes, tiger tails. Others, being mixed-blood of the Demon Human Clan, were innately rejected by the laws of this realm, and eight or nine out of ten would not live to adulthood, perishing prematurely from various illnesses.
Like Gu Shi Yi and her birth mother, with a demonic bloodline passed down through generations, it can only be said that her ancestors must have been a truly remarkable Demon King. The Old Taoist Priest knew that the only ones capable of such a feat were a few Primordial Variants that had survived from ancient times, which is why he said so.
The Old Taoist Priest thought for a moment and said,
"I can't explain it clearly, but when I was with the Gu Family, I heard quite a few secrets about your birth mother. I heard she had a penchant for robust men and didn't think highly of gentlemen with slender figures like your father. However, when she was in her boudoir, she indeed behaved like a proper lady of a grand household. But after she got married, her personality changed drastically. I suspect that her bloodline must have awakened. Unlike you, she had not such good fortune and only awakened to her bloodline after she had come to understand the matters of men and women after marriage. From then on, she must have disdain for your father, which is why she ran off with someone else. When you return to your hometown, you can ask around in your maternal family!"
"Oh..."
Gu Shi Yi was stupefied, her mouth agape, and she numbly nodded her head, taking a long while before she said,
"So... she... she didn't mean to abandon me?"
Knowing that his apprentice, despite appearing broad-minded and cheerful, took her mother's departure to heart, the Old Taoist Priest nodded and said,
"I reckon she had no choice..."
Her mother was a mere mortal with the blood of the Ancient Demon Clan, and if her lustful nature was aroused, seeing a man would make her forget everything else; how could she remember her daughter!
Gu Shi Yi asked further,
"My maternal family is also a family of Great Cultivation, even though it declined later on. When my mother was at home, did no one notice anything?"
The Old Taoist Priest replied,
"Such matters of bloodline are extremely unpredictable. The bloodline of your ancestor has become very thin by your generation, but it is still a Primordial Variant after all. Its wondrous nature is beyond our comprehension. Perhaps it lies dormant in the bloodline for several generations or even dozens of generations, then suddenly reawakens in the body of a certain descendant..."
He paused, looking sympathetically at his apprentice,
"But as it seems now, you have not inherited the other abilities of that variant, but rather... ahem... you have inherited its libidinous nature..."
Primordial Variants, ah! Most possess innate supernatural abilities, such as a natural affinity with water or the Five Elements, or remarkably robust and resilient bodies. Yet, having raised Gu Shi Yi for more than twenty years, aside from her exceptional aptitude for Taoist Techniques, he really hadn't noticed anything that set her apart from ordinary human women—it seemed she hadn't inherited any of that!
"Ah..."
Gu Shi Yi was left speechless, thinking to herself,
"No wonder I like abs, defined V-lines, and big muscles... So this is an inheritance from my ancestors!"
Gu Shi Yi was shocked by the fact that she carried the Primordial Bloodline but stopped crying. She spent the night drinking with the Old Taoist Priest, and when he laid down on the table, unable to hold his liquor, she went to help him. As her hands touched the Old Taoist Priest's gaunt shoulders, her eyes reddened again,
"Master..."
In the past, despite the Old Taoist Priest's age, his physique was strong and could compete with younger people. The training he had done since his days as an Apprentice remained, and although his muscles weren't as hard as iron, they were visibly defined. But within just one day's time, the resilient muscles on the Old Taoist Priest's body seemed to have been drained, leaving nothing but bone to the touch and causing a deep ache.
After she helped the Old Taoist Priest to the bed, Gu Shi Yi looked on with worry. She didn't dare to sleep in her own bed, fearing that she might wake up to find the Old Taoist Priest gone. Thus, she spent the whole night sitting by his side. Little Mud Man kept her company, and together they waited until dawn. When the first bird call sounded in the woods, it seemed to startle the Old Taoist Priest awake. He sighed deeply and opened his eyes,
"Shi... yi..."
Gu Shi Yi, hearing him, opened her eyes hastily to look,
"Master!"
By this time, the Old Taoist Priest already looked like he was on his deathbed. His white hair lay scattered and messy on the pillow, and his bald head showed that all his hair had fallen out overnight. His face was enshrouded by a dark aura, and his sagging, tired eyes barely managed to open a slit,